The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), passed in 1938, requires anyone acting in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government, political party or other foreign principal — to lobby, run public-relations campaigns or influence policy — to register with the Department of Justice and disclose the relationship. A 'foreign principal' is the foreign client; a 'registrant' is the U.S. agent or firm acting for them.

Foreign Influence · FARA

Which Countries Lobby Washington? Foreign Agents, Ranked

Q: Which country lobbies the United States the most?

By number of active foreign principals registered under FARA, Japan leads with 53, followed by Saudi Arabia (36), Qatar (32) and the United Arab Emirates (28). Counted together, the three Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE — represent the largest single bloc, with 96 active principals. GovGreed counts active registered relationships, not dollar spend.

Q: Does Israel lobby the U.S. under FARA?

Yes — Israel has about 20 active foreign principals registered under FARA, ranking eighth among countries, behind Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Canada, Taiwan and Venezuela. This is separate from AIPAC: AIPAC is an American organization whose PAC and super PAC are domestic FEC-regulated committees, not FARA-registered foreign agents.

Q: Is foreign lobbying legal?

Yes, when it is disclosed. FARA does not ban foreign lobbying; it requires registration and public disclosure of the relationship, the activities and the money. Failing to register is the violation. Most foreign lobbying in Washington is conducted openly through registered U.S. firms.

Foreign governments don’t vote in U.S. elections — they hire lobbyists. Right now 816 active foreign principals from 152 countries are registered to influence U.S. policy under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Japan leads, but the real story is the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE together field 96 registered foreign principals — more than any single nation. Here’s the ranking, and the K Street firms working for them.

Source: FARA filings (U.S. Department of Justice) Active registrations as of June 2026 Published: June 21, 2026

816

Active Foreign Principals

registered right now

152

Countries Represented

lobbying U.S. policy

From the Gulf Bloc

Saudi + Qatar + UAE

7,062

Registered U.S. Agents

all-time FARA registrants

The Basics

What FARA Actually Tracks

The Foreign Agents Registration Act, passed in 1938, requires anyone acting in the United States on behalf of a foreign government, party or entity — to lobby Congress, run PR campaigns or shape policy — to register with the Justice Department and disclose the relationship. A foreign principal is the foreign client; a registrant is the U.S. firm or agent working for them. It is the cleanest public window into which countries are actively trying to move Washington.

This is a different thing from AIPAC. FARA covers foreign principals — actual foreign governments and entities. AIPAC, by contrast, is an American organization whose political spending runs through domestic FEC-regulated committees, not FARA. We track that money separately on the AIPAC money page. Both are legal, disclosed influence — they’re just governed by different laws.

The Ranking

Countries by Active Foreign Principals

Ranked by how many active foreign principals each country has registered — a measure of how many distinct influence relationships a nation is running in Washington right now. The Gulf states are highlighted in amber.

Japan

Saudi Arabia Gulf

Qatar Gulf

United Arab Emirates Gulf

Canada

Taiwan

Venezuela

Israel

Iraq

South Korea

China

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Turkey

Ukraine

Morocco

The Gulf out-lobbies everyone. As individual countries, Japan leads — but Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE together run 96 active foreign principals, nearly double Japan’s total and the single largest regional bloc influencing Washington. Oil, defense and reputation campaigns drive it.

The Agents

The U.S. Firms Working for Foreign Governments

Foreign governments don’t walk the halls of Congress themselves — they hire American lobbying and PR firms to do it. These are the registrants representing the most distinct foreign principals right now, a mix of boutique foreign-agent shops and household-name law firms.

Active FARA registrants ranked by number of distinct foreign principals represented. Source: FARA bulk filings.
Registered U.S. Agent	Foreign Principals	Countries
Mercury Public Affairs	16	15
Dickens & Madson (Canada)	15	15
MMGY Global	14	12
BGR Government Affairs	13	13
Sonoran Policy Group (Stryk Global)	13	12
Continental Strategy	11	10
Myriad International Marketing	10	7
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck	9	7
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld	9	9
Squire Patton Boggs	8	5

The Caveats

How to Read These Numbers

These rankings count active registered relationships — how many distinct foreign principals each country and firm has on the books — not dollars. A country with many small contracts can outrank one with a single very large one. FARA also covers influence aimed at the entire U.S. government and public, not only Congress. “Active” means the registration has not been terminated. Dollar-level FARA spend is notoriously messy to total; we report the cleaner, verifiable relationship counts.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which country lobbies the United States the most?▼

By active foreign principals registered under FARA, Japan leads with 53, followed by Saudi Arabia (36), Qatar (32) and the UAE (28). Counted together, the three Gulf states represent the largest single bloc — 96 active principals. These are registered relationships, not dollar totals.

What is FARA?▼

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (1938) requires anyone acting in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government, party or entity — to lobby, run PR or influence policy — to register with the Justice Department and disclose the relationship. A “foreign principal” is the foreign client; a “registrant” is the U.S. agent acting for them.

Does Israel lobby the U.S. under FARA?▼

Yes — Israel has about 20 active foreign principals registered under FARA, ranking eighth among countries, behind Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Canada, Taiwan and Venezuela. This is separate from AIPAC: AIPAC is an American organization whose PAC and super PAC are domestic FEC-regulated committees, not FARA-registered foreign agents.

Is foreign lobbying legal?▼

Yes, when it is disclosed. FARA does not ban foreign lobbying; it requires registration and public disclosure of the relationship, the activities and the money. Failing to register is the violation. Most foreign lobbying in Washington is conducted openly through registered U.S. firms.

About this data. Counts are active foreign principals (registrations without a termination date) from FARA bulk filings published by the U.S. Department of Justice, grouped by country of origin and by registered U.S. agent, as of June 2026. Figures are relationship counts, not dollar spend, and cover influence aimed at the U.S. government broadly. Source: FARA (efile.fara.gov), Congress.gov.

Not financial advice. All data from public federal disclosures. GovGreed reports disclosed foreign-agent registrations and does not allege that any country, firm or individual violated any law. Source: FARA, Congress.gov.